Locking mechanisms can be utilized to secure a variety of carriers within receptacles. For example, a carrier such as an electronic module can be inserted and secured within a base device, such as a computer. Oftentimes it is desirable to have the module secured, yet also be removable so that replacement and/or upgrade modules can be inserted into the base device. For example, in one form the module is a copper transceiver module and the base is a router for routing data packets. In this form it may be desirable to later upgrade the copper module with a fiber optic module without having to replace the entire router.
Oftentimes the carrier and receptacle are designed to be compact structures and therefore it may be desirable to have the locking mechanism also be compact to minimize overall space. For example, electronics are generally becoming more compact and therefore, locking structures must also be miniaturized.
Furthermore, it is often desirable to easily remove the carrier from the receptacle. However, the carrier should be secured such that accidental contact does not unlock and/or remove the carrier from the receptacle.
It is known to utilize an actuating member to retract biased projections back into the carrier such that the carrier can be removed from the receptacle. However, these devices can be complex. Furthermore, these devices oftentimes require additional force to retract the projections as they may get caught on the receptacle as they are retracted into the carrier.
In order to provide such features, the locking mechanism of the present invention is provided that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.